I have a question for you builders and operators about restraint belts and bunks. When/if I get a bus, I will need bunks for our children. Looking at pictures on this site and others, I do not see restraint belts installed on bunks. I have crawled through more than twenty entertainer/star coaches and did not see restraint belts on any of them. From reading articles on entertainer bus accidents, one of the common injuries seems to be getting bounced out of a bunk.

I am used to bunks with restraint belts. My wife and I are both flight attendants and the crew rest bunks on all of the aircraft have belts to keep us attached to the bunk while we sleep. Is there a reason why bus bunks do not have restraint belts?

My guess is that those belts on the airplane crew bunks are to hold the occupant in the bunk during air turbulence. Are they used at take off and landing times?

The no belts tradition in commercial and private buses is well ingrained and dying hard. Driving charter and hockey team buses for many years, I am used to everybody walking around the bus while underway. It is up to the driver to keep the ride smooth to keep it comfortable. Late model commercial buses have seat belts now, but the driver alone cannot enforce the use of them. In a private motorhome, it would be unreasonable to expect everyone to be belted on a seat at all times. Might as well ride in a pickup truck pulling a 5th wheel. Typically, your family and friends are up to use the bathroom, the kitchen, or go lie down on the couch or the bed, etc. My kids when younger would take a shower while rolling down the freeway. I doubt the single belt in your airplane pictures would help much in case of a head on collision.

It is an individual decision whether to have everyone belted at all times in the coach while underway, or not.

In sleeper trucks, we have a net that holds the sleeping person in-if they want when going down the road. The beds on trucks are sideways also-which means a net would be effective in a heavy braking or collision situation. But-the single belt as illustrated on the commercial airplanes could be deadly if you're sleeping on the sofa and have a braking event.

On my truck conversion, I will have two lap belts on the forward facing dinette seats (can't be designed into the rear facing), and three on the jack knife sofa, and of course the two seats in front (which are just lap belts). Good Luck, TomC

I'm curious as to the legality of driving with people sleeping in bunks. I think it's done all the time, I don't know if it's legal. I think the reason you don't restraint belts is that if you install one you imply a certain degree of engineering in the anchors, which normally doesn't exist.

That idea has merit. However I would not use any type of belt, as kids tend to move around and probably wouldn't tolerate a belt. The idea of coarse mesh or inter woven strap material over the bunk openings would be a good idea, as along as it could be detached quickly, especially in an emergency. Helps to insure the kids don't get out of their bunks and wander around when they are supposed to be sleeping. I remember the bunks we had in the 50's in our converted school bus and especially preferred the upper one, as it had the windows. Many times enjoyed lying there in the daytime looking out the windows, watching the world go by. I can still remember the sound the wind made blowing through the screens. The bunk windows were modified, so that they wouldn't go down more than 6 inches.

I'm curious as to the legality of driving with people sleeping in bunks. I think it's done all the time, I don't know if it's legal. I think the reason you don't restraint belts is that if you install one you imply a certain degree of engineering in the anchors, which normally doesn't exist.

Brian

I hope we do not need the permission from our dear government to sleep in our bunks while travelling....

You don't need permission, you just need to be able to handle the weight if something goes wrong while you are doing it. If it's even illegal... From what I have been able to find out, maybe it is, maybe it isn't. So far the reports are pretty 50-50 if you only need seatbelts on the front seats, all the seats that people sit in, or that if you aren't actually sitting it's completely open. You gotta know every entertainer bus going has people asleep inside, stand up, walking around, cooking, whatever...

I make my 4 year old granddaughter buckle up and it's funny how many times a little skinny waif of a person has to tee tee in a 200 miles trip. I figure about 20 miles to the tee. She smiling the whole time she's up.